Waking up early six days a week before the sun is out, I start my day by hopping into rowing gear and heading over to the river. The sun rises over the foggy river as a cold chill hits the air. In morning stretches, my team makes a plan for the coming workout. Grabbing our oars, we head over to the boat rack as I call the commands to bring the boat to the chilly water. We strap our feet in the boat as we shove off into the river to start our piece. The sound of the oars hitting the water while the boat glides through the river, brings a feeling of calmness around the boat. My teammates and I work as a team to complete and uphold our standards for each workout with the goal of winning a race in mind. I steer us through the bridges and complete each set as we slowly head back to dock. Leaving the workout, I feel accomplished in what I have achieved before any of my friends are even awake. Before I started rowing I was very quiet and shy and kept a lot to myself. I didn't have many friends, focused all my time on school, and wasn't very active. I had worked so hard all spring season to try out for the volleyball team and didn't make it. I was afraid to get back into sports after this setback, nervous that if I joined another team/sport I would be let down again. I was stuck in a habit of being on my own. I knew I needed to make a change to break that habit, improve myself and build more confidence. One day I found a flier about rowing. I never knew there were water sports like rowing in Ohio and was very interested so I decided to join rowing and escape the walls of my school and home. I knew my height was going to be a challenge and I was going to have to work harder than other rowers because I didn't fit the stereotypical rower build but I was ready. Rowing is a team effort, and I disliked group projects. At school I was hesitant to work and present with other classmates for fear of not being good enough. I was nervous at first in rowing because I didn't know anyone and wasn't familiar with the sport but I dedicated all my time and efforts to the team, working my best every day. I gained valuable friendships and with each workout with my team I became more outgoing and had a more team-oriented mindset. Rowing is physically and mentally demanding, and at first I was not sure I could overcome the mental aspect. Over time my strength increased both mentally and physically giving me a more positive mindset. I soon was able to get in the races that I thought would be impossible to achieve. I learned that hard work and dedication allows me to achieve anything if I just put my mind to it. Over the years a connection formed with many of my teammates that allowed me to come out of my shell and work very well together in team boats. Rowing made me realize that I can achieve and push myself more than I thought. Things that may not look at first like they will work are often the things where we can grow the most. I changed into a confident, hard-working, outgoing person. It all started from deciding to make a change and something as simple as waking up before 6 a.m.

My favorite thing as a child was visiting my grandparent's house in West Virginia. Walking through the woods with my grandma, we explored trails and trees, little bugs, and animals in the creek. My grandmother spent hours teaching me the natural science that surrounded us. My grandfather, a college science professor, showed me the experiments he was teaching in class and talked me through how they worked. I have always been surrounded by science and curiosity and the mechanics of how things work, from repairing 4-wheelers to working with puzzles with my grandmother. I knew I liked it before I knew it was something I could learn in school or work in as a career. In some ways, my future picture might seem obvious. You could say that health studies are in my DNA, as I have grown up with a mom who is a doctor and a dad who is a nurse. Although I have seen how rewarding it is to be in the healthcare field, I want to work in a different area. Biomedical engineering combines understanding human body systems and developing new solutions for medicine and medical technology. It’s the ultimate puzzle. I have always been interested in making life-saving advances like prosthetics that can change someone's life forever. My parents both work for the Veterans Administration and I am inspired by those who choose to serve others. I plan to continue in the service either through duty or as a civilian. Either way, I hope to serve those that have made sacrifices to protect our country. In the military prosthetics are used widely and have advanced with new technology to allow disabled military veterans to perform everyday tasks with ease. The medical field is an ever-evolving world with thousands of questions and with ever more possible solutions. Biomedical engineering will allow me to take on these challenges and make new advances in the health industry.

Growing up as a kid I always struggled with the fact that my family didn't look like other families and how I just had a motherly figure in my life. But throughout the years I have learned that no two families are the same. Being a child of a single mother is one of the most empowering and most challenging experiences one can face. Honestly, I wouldn't want it any other way. My mom has taught me what strength and courage one can do on a person. She is my biggest role model in life. She has not only showed me how to rise up and stand for my own self worth she has also shown me what true happiness can do. I have always aspired to be like her when I am older. Growing up the relationship between my mom and dad was challenging not only in their marriage but their relationship with me and my three other siblings. My mom was being dragged down every day but from day one she was really raising us all by herself. After the separation, I saw her grow as a person and become her true self. My mom shows true strength every day, I call her my superwoman. She has a full-time job working at the Veterans Administration Hospital taking care of patients. She still finds a way to get up in the morning to get all of us ready for school and comes home after work and take us to all our extra-curricular activities and make dinner. I am so very thankful every day for the wonderful support system we have around us cheering my mom on and helping us out every day. I don't know if we could have done it without them. My mom has shown me how to dream and strive for the future. For as long as I can remember, I have looked up to my mom as a doctor and I have seen how rewarding it is to be in the healthcare field. She has taught me that hard work and determination will allow you to grow and reach new boundaries. I have always been willing to work hard and always have a goal I am working on to ever improve myself. I want to take this drive into my college and professional career. I have always been interested in the ever-changing medical field and new inventions. This is why I am going into Biomedical Engineering. I would love to use this degree and work with the military, enlisted as active duty or as a civilian, to invent and develop prosthetics. This scholarship will relieve some financial burden on my family as my mom is a single mom with four kids. Not only do I work hard at school, but I am actively looking for scholarships that will help my family and reduce future debt. This scholarship will also allow me to focus more time on my education in college as I work to support myself and pay off my student debt.